Lorne

The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live

By: Susan Morrison

Narrated by: Kristen DiMercurio, Susan Morrison

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The definitive biography of Lorne Michaels, the man behind America’s most beloved comedy show

“The kind of biographical monument usually consecrated to founding fathers, canonical authors and world-historical scientific geniuses.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)

“Readers are treated to the Holy Grail for any journalist hoping to crack the show: a warts-and-all week in the life of SNL, where Morrison gets to see the real process of putting the thing together.”—Variety

Over the fifty years that Lorne Michaels has been at the helm of Saturday Night Live, he has become a revered and inimitable presence in the entertainment world. He’s a tastemaker, a mogul, a withholding father figure, a genius spotter of talent, a shrewd businessman, a name-dropper, a raconteur, the inspiration for Dr. Evil, the winner of more than a hundred Emmys—and, essentially, a mystery. Generations of writers and performers have spent their lives trying to figure him out, by turns demonizing and lionizing him. He’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi” (Tracy Morgan), the “great and powerful Oz” (Kate McKinnon), “some kind of very distant, strange comedy god” (Bob Odenkirk).

Lorne will introduce you to him, in full, for the first time. With unprecedented access to Michaels and the entire SNL apparatus, Susan Morrison takes listeners behind the curtain for the lively, up-and-down, definitive story of how Michaels created and maintained the institution that changed comedy forever.

Drawn from hundreds of interviews—with Michaels, his friends, and SNL’s iconic stars and writers, from Will Ferrell to Tina Fey to John Mulaney to Chris Rock to Dan Aykroyd—Lorne is a deeply reported, wildly entertaining account of a man singularly obsessed with the show that would define his life and have a profound impact on American culture.

©2025 Susan Morrison (P)2025 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“The best biography I have ever read of a living person.”—Lawrence O’Donnell, host of The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell

“Indispensable, especially for ‘SNL’ completists. Morrison, an editor for The New Yorker, brings that magazine’s combination of access, reporting and fluid analysis to a subject who, despite his high visibility, has often played it close to the vest.”—Los Angeles Times

“The others, as they go tumbling in furious vulnerability across Morrison’s viewfinder, are fascinating. . . . But somehow no one is quite as fascinating as Michaels himself, easing in his faintly reptilian way through showbiz vicissitudes and blinding storms of ego, nurturing brittle artists and disarming corporate thugs, ‘impervious to refusals,’ sending mixed signals, making strange noises of approval or demurral, getting richer and richer, living better and better, quietly arrogating to himself enormous cultural power without ever appearing to break a sweat.”—The Atlantic

It leaves you feeling like you’re in on the secret…

GREAT BOOK!!! Your heart shines through in your writing! I loved it so much! It truly makes you feel like you alone are in on the secret that makes the show keep going after all these years!
I had the pleasure of watching last night’s show (March 7, 2025) after devouring the book…it sure made the show hit different! Thank you!can’t imagine the time you poured into this masterpiece!

An entertainment legend

a very rich story of the history of snl and how it all came to be and continually survived and thrived..

Hard to listen to the narrator

I was so looking forward to listening to the whole book, but the narration is so distracting that I can't get through it. I skipped ahead to the first five years of SNL and that's all I could do. I thought I might get used to her delivery. But doing "male" voice for all men is so ridiculous. It's like she's reading a bedtime story to a child. I agree with another review that this is a great example of how an excellent book is ruined by a bad audio reading. And the reader’s imitation of Lorne’s voice is so bad it is very distracting. And the quick 'catch breath' she does every single time after she does the bad imitation of Lorne and then "Michaels__said." Normal people don't talk that way. We get that his last name ends in an "s" and the word "said" starts with the same letter. Oy.
On to the next book.

All the Chaos of Making SNL Great

If you are an SNL fan, you have heard some of the mythos of how frantic the pace of making each episode can be. The writers, set designers, costuming, talent and so much more. But Susan Morrison really takes the show's idiosyncrasies and brings them together in this biography of Lorne Michaels.

If you are looking for funny anecdotes of backstory, you won't necessarily get it. Instead you get a feel for how Lorne Michaels was made - even more so than how Lorne Michaels made SNL. The man was young and talented for comedy in the TV media in the 1960's and into the 1970's when it counted. His search for perfect comedy is admirable, but he seems to learn well from an uncanny ability to deflect, charm and survive. You get a first hand feel for how he has built SNL to become an American cultural comedy icon.

My one issue with the audiobook is that of the primary narrator Kristen DiMercurio. She uses accents for British quotes of the likes of Paul McCartney and that was fine. But then, she does her own Lorne voice. I mean, if you listen to "Fly on the Wall," a podcast with Spade and Carvey, they have their own imitations. Most of the staff in the book have their own Lorne impression. Ms. DiMercurio's impression just took away from the narrative. Leave it to the comedians. She also mispronounced several names of people and characters of SNL lore. In writing this review I remember off the top of my head her misprouncement of Mary Katherine Gallagher and Tim Herlihy's last name. Maybe not a big deal, but I would have hoped the narrator would have been a fan or had notes on pronouncements of names.

Meticulous and Engaging

So thoroughly researched and seamlessly written. A fun, funny and complex look at a fascinating and mercurial man. Really enjoyable. The narration is also well done.

Don’t listen to the bad audio reviews!

I listen to probably 5-8 books a month. I have been an Audible member since it first started. I am always cautious when I see “bad audio” reviews. I listened to the sample and thought it was fine— I’m so glad I did! This narrator is excellent and in general I think it’s authentic to the work since the author is a woman as well.

It’s very common for female narrators to change their voices for male dialogue, especially in romance novels. Lorne’s voice is very deep and kind of strange anyway so even her impersonation is on point. This was not distracting or even an issue at all for me in my listening experience. Though, i can understand how that is not everyone’s experience.

In any case, I thought it important to point out that the people who likely didn’t like the narrator don’t listen to many books or don’t know the benefits of speeding up a narration to help improve your listening experience. (I listened to this on 1.5)

It’s a great format— the current day mixed with the history— it’s also a long book —696 pages! — so I’m glad I listened to it!

Great Job

Loved the book. But I couldn't figure out if it was read by AI or by the worst reader I've ever heard. I have never heard SO MANY mispronunciations in one book. You would never publish written book with this many "typos".

Excellent

A well told story of Lorne Michael across his 80 year life. One of the strongest biographies I’ve read.

intelligence, talent, persist and humor

This story is a fairy tale to me and an inspiration. Lorene Michaels breaks many molds in his bold wielding of creative potentials and social trends. Writing and reading are both excellent.

A must-read for every SNL fan

As someone who grew up on SNL, I couldn’t put this down. Superb all the way through.